[kelltech]

Do you have your XP cd, you can try a repair of your installation, its like a fresh install but it keeps your personal and setting intact.

Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.

When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
-Windows XP to run on your computer:

-To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

-To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

-To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. Do Not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, Do Not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".

Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.

Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup.

Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

Please note that you will need your XP product key number.

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You can try using the cd to do a repair through the recovery console. CHKDSK / f to see if you have any errors that can be fixed. Or you can try a FIXMBR (fix master boot record) or a FIXBOOT (writes a new boot sector onto the specified partition).

If your XP cd tells you that it did not find a Hard Disk to install on then your HD might be the problem.

Hope this will help you.

For the size of your hard drive being 160go that might be a problem only if you have a prior to SP1 XP and its the first time your trying to install it but your XP installation was working no problem before on that Hard disk so it should not be a factor.

Do you have only one Hard Drive if no how many and are they Sata or IDE (your board supports both)

Finally got a day off and ran through your first procedure, everything went fine until the end when there was 13 minutes left in the XP installation and I got these errors:
* Error occurred loading C:\Windows\System32\Netcomm.dll
* Error occurred loading C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msoe.dll

Then at the very end this one:
* Windows Media Player: An internal application error has occurred

And finally, once it finalized installation after I hit ok on the above errors, system rebooted and I went into BIOS and changed back to boot from HDD and got the good 'ol "Error loading OS"

I think something is shot

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FINALLY got the thing to load windows, had some dll errors with IE which I was trying to use because somehow the system no longer had any service packs installed. Then on reboot it hung again on the Asus splash screen. I began unplugging USB's, etc and as soon as I unplugged the Dell printer the whole comp immediately shut off. Now I can't get anything at all, I try to start with just keyboard and video but the monitor now says "no signal." So frustrating, really could use some advice here

[kelltech]

FINALLY got the thing to load windows, had some dll errors with IE which I was trying to use because somehow the system no longer had any service packs installed. Then on reboot it hung again on the Asus splash screen. I began unplugging USB's, etc and as soon as I unplugged the Dell printer the whole comp immediately shut off. Now I can't get anything at all, I try to start with just keyboard and video but the monitor now says "no signal." So frustrating, really could use some advice here

[phillpower2]

I would now suggest removing the motherboard from the case & doing a barebone set-up
on a piece of cardboard, post back if you require assisstance with this

[kelltech]

I would now suggest removing the motherboard from the case & doing a barebone set-up
on a piece of cardboard, post back if you require assisstance with this

Have no idea what that means but it doesn't sound nice.

[Alzeimer]

It means to unscreww your motherboard from the case, take it out and lay it on a piece of cardboard so to make sure you do not have metal touching your motherboard that could be creating shorts. Plug your Video card one ram and PSU cross your finger and boot.

[phillpower2]

Going back to what Alzeimer suggested in post #2 failing/failed psu,
Post the details of the present psu ie make & power output as this is
a strong contender for your problems & these details could point us
in the right direction, if it is the psu you will have to replace it
as they do not have any consumer replacable parts, you can normally
find the psu details simply by removing the side panel.
Please remove the power lead & all other connections before opening
up the case & take anti static precautions before touching anything
inside the case, you can do this by simply touching a metal part of
the case.

[kelltech]

I actually have a PSU tester, it tests fine except PG value is a bit low, its at 170 but don't most mobos ignore PG anyway? It's weird, I can boot to windows fine if I stick the XP cd in the drive, although media player, IE8, Outlook, Word, etc won't work. I might just format and try a clean install at this point unless there is a better suggestion.

[phillpower2]

it tests fine except PG value is a bit low, its at 170 but don't most mobos ignore PG anyway?

While this may be true most of the time its not 100% correct &
some computers may refuse to post if the PG value is not 250-300ms.
Now this stuff is over my head but it could still point to the psu
being defective, especially if it has a low power output or is not
made by a quality manufacturer such a Corsair, on the format issue
if you can get into windows & back all important data up & then
format at least if it doesnt resolve the issue you have eliminated
another possibility, I will suggest again though you post the make
& power output of the psu.

[kelltech]

I know it's not a major brand PSU, in fact looking at it I can't find a name only the model number LPK 12-30 and it's 500w. I did a search for that model number and it may be called Voeding or Linkworld... either way it's definately not a top made PSU like Corsair.

[kelltech]

Now I'm blown away! After completely formatting the HDD and installing XP clean, guess what shows up on very first reboot: "ERROR LOADING OS"!!

The PSU tests good, the drive tested good with Western Digital tools.. I am completely lost!

Do I need to start a new "error loading os" thread?

Edited by kelltech, 18 May 2010 - 07:56 PM.

[phillpower2]

It looks like there is a communication problem between the BIOS & the HDD,
3 things you can try before starting a new OS thread are listed below;
1: Go into the CMOS settings & change the access mode on the HDD to large
or LBA this will depend on the BIOS;
2: Delete & then recreate all the partitions on the HDD & then run the XP
set-up again;
3: Update the BIOS

You can see why they are listed in this order, hopefully the quickest fix
No1 will resolve the issue, good luck & let us know how it goes.

[kelltech]

You may not believe this, I stumbled across the problem. I ran WD disk tools analysis on the main drive again, and again it checked ok so I ran it on my slave drive, an old 20GB Maxtor and it had issues that WD couldn't repair. WD tools disabled the slave in BIOS and all is good. After that I rebooted several times, including complete shut-downs and sure enough no trouble. As an extra measure, I went back and did a zero-write on my WD main drive and installed XP fresh on that. Now I just have to reinstall programs, and if you can tell me how to get windows to recognize my 160gb drive as more than 127gb I would appreciate it. Thanks again for all of your help!

[phillpower2]

Install XP SP updates, you must install at least SP 1 for anything
bigger then 127gb to be recognised.

[Alzeimer]

If you reinstall XP again delete the partition you have now and create 2 partitions on your hard and make sure C is under 127go (80 + 80, 100 + 60, 120 + 40 ect) ). This way you should be able to boot with no problem.

Or slipstream SP3 (Use N-Lite XP integration program)into your XP setup CD and you will not have any problem installing it as 1 partition of 160go.

[bangsat78]

i am also having the same problem...My ASUS Desktop froze on the startup screen....After that nothing i could do.....Below is the screenshot of my screen that i was stuck on...Please help...